5 Ingredient Meals + $100 visa giftcard giveaway

Today’s post is part of a series from BlogHer and Perdue Chicken called K.I.S.S. — “Keep It Simply Smart.”

A bunch of bloggers are going to be making their own lists about simplicity and time-saving inspiration in the kitchen. I don’t know about you, but this series is totally up my alley. Simplicity and time-saving ideas? Check and check.

Yep! No turning your kitchen into a tornado full of cutting boards, open cartons, spices and cans with these recipes. All you need are 5 simple ingredients to make some speedy meals that you, your friends and your family will love!

And even better, I’m really hoping that these simple guidelines will encourage some of you by-the-book recipe devotees to give improvising a try. Really, most dishes we all love boil down to similar ingredient patterns. Once you learn those, you can mix and match and start creating some of your own original recipes. I promise you can do it, and it’s really fun to get creative! So read on for my top ten list of ideas. AND enter to win a $100 Cooking.com gift card!!!

Again, these are just the basics, people. But trust me that if you follow these directions, the options are pretty much limitless for the deliciousness you can create. Also, for you vegetarians out there, just substitute your favorite hearty vegetables or tofu whenever the recipe calls for meat, seafood, etc. And now…drumroll please…Ali’s “Keep It Simply Smart” Top Ten List of 5-Ingredient Meals:

Leave a comment telling me how you like to “keep it simply smart” in the kitchen! Feel free to discuss meal preparation, pantry organization, time management, etc.

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Rules:

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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

I recently reorganized our pantry using quart masons jars I have aquired through the years. Making finding a grain or bean much easier than my previous stainless steel canisters. My husband built me some great shelves to hold all my spices that makes finding them and brainstorming for a meal so much eaiser. Organization is my biggest key to success making smart simple meals.

We keep it simple & smart by meal planning each week! This way, I can coordinate meals that might share similar ingredients and get the most out of my purchases! I can also make more intricate meals by planning it out and breaking up prep throughout the week/day!

I plan 4-5 meals at the beginning of each week, at least 2 of them are ‘pantry-only’, no special purchases needed. That allows us to have a homecooked meal every night but gives us flexibility if something fun comes up one evening, or we aren’t hungry and just whip up some smoothies for dinner.

Almost all of my get-togethers are pot-luck. We agreed years ago that we don’t want any one person to have to do a ton of work – so everyone brings food so we can spend more time talking and the hostess isn’t too busy to join in.

I try to “keep it simply smart” by limiting my perishable grocery shopping in the summer to maybe three days worth. I pick a protein, a grain, and a fruit and veggie and try to combine it a few different ways for dinner, so there’s not much waste in the hot weather.

I like to KISS it in the kitchen by planning meals that do not require copious amounts of chopping or cooking it time. I want to be able to come home from work, make dinner and eat within 30 minutes. If that means that I don’t have a lovely sauce on my chicken, so be it. I’d rather buy a fantastic piece of meat and let that flavor shine.

We are in the process of redoing our pantry….in order to try and make things simple in our kitchen. Since each shelf is too deep we’ve decided to cut them down in size so that items don’t get lost in the back. Hoping it helps.
great give away.

If we’re grilling some chicken, we just grill the whole bag. It freezes great and is ready later to slice or chop into soups, salads, quesadillas, burritos, whatever. And the grilling makes the chicken more flavorful. Gotta love those grill marks!

Keeping it simple for me is making my own chicken/vegetable broth for use is so many dishes. I keep all of my scraps from veggies and chicken bones which with some seasoning makes a wonderful broth for cooking rice, potatoes or pasta.

Awesome giveaway! My simple strategy for the kitchen is mise-en-place. I have a teeeeeeny tiny kitchen, and so if I’m trying to get all my ingredients out while also cooking, it gets totally crazy and frantic. I try to set out/prep as much as possible before I turn on the stove!

I’m big on having everything organized so that it’s place is established. No more hunting for where I put something! I also really love to meal plan and also freeze meals ahead when I have the space. Canning is another thing I make time for as it’s a big time and money saver in the long run

This all sounds AMAZING! I definitely want to try some of the recipes. I keep it smart by using coupons, freezing as much as I can and using old family recipes to feed my family of 6 on one income while my boyfriend serves in the US military to proudly serve his Country.